Home › Posts tagged American Dream

American Dream

6 WAYS TO BE RICH EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

grasshopper on top of world

1. COMPILE YOUR BUCKET LIST NOW– NOT WHEN YOU ARE SERIOUSLY CONTEMPLATING YOUR OWN MORTALITY.  This is the best way there is to discern and get clarity on where your priorities really are and to what hidden parts of you have been denied all of these years. Then, start doing those things now. Guess what? You are now living the dream.

 

  1. REDEFINE “WEALTH” ACCORDING TO PRIORITIES FOUND IN # 1. For me, wealth is discretionary time and freedom. It’s the likelihood and ability to do the things I want to  now, not “when I retire in 40 years.” The truth is our friend, and the truth is that there are no guarantees. Do you really want your life to begin decades from now?

 

  1. REMOVE THE CLUTTER. It affects your attitude and potential. If I hang on to every purchase I’ve ever made, “ because I might need it someday” or “ I might lose everything”, it creates an attitude of scarcity and fear. I’m the worst about this. Every object has sentimental value, but I live in a small house, and if I don’t get rid of the things I haven’t used in a year, my precious living- space becomes an episode of Hoarders. There is another reason: Even though I tell myself I’m a disorganized artist, the clutter affects my mental clarity, discipline, and peace. I don’t want to have to double the size of my house every 10 years simply to store my “ things.” Think of all of the people living in huge warehouse- type houses, who are under water on their mortgages.

 

  1. LIVE A LIFE THAT ALLOWS FOR MORE OPPORTUNITY AND CHANGE. What if the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself today? Could you pick up and go follow it tomorrow?

 

  1. AS A COROLLARY TO NUMBERS 1-4, LIVE A LIFE THAT IS FREE. Debt- free, cage- free, worry- free, clutter free. It’s freakishly weird, but almost every adult in my extended family growing up was a banker.  They all said the same thing: “If  you don’t have the cash to buy it, don’t buy it.” Obviously, I am not suggesting going off the grid.   For anyone not Amish, that could present an obstacle or two.  But, it’s a matter of degree, isn’t it? One or two credit cards may be necessary, but 6-10, may be quicksand.

abundantfruit

  1. LOOSEN THE GRIP. I have my first dime, and my second and my third. I want to be ready for emergencies, so I tend to not spend, even if it might be critical for my long term well being. This stems from the delusion that if I am cautious nothing bad will happen. But, while I’m trying to control everything, I’m not discovering, learning, or living. It helps me to remember that my material possessions aren’t really mine. They come from the Source of Infinite Wealth to be funneled through me to go where they need to go, and eventually replenished. If God doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called, I will have what I need when I need it, as I continue on my journey of discovery. My job is to stay limber, stay ready and await further instructions:)

 

THE 2 GOLD KEYS TO SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

 

 

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

This phrase in the Declaration of Independence suggests that happiness is a needle in a haystack to be located, hunted down and pounced upon before it gets away, never to return.

When I follow that logic, I am anything but happy or successful.

 

sunsetbeachI’m in my happy place right now. Who could really be negative at the beach?

I had to take a spiritual road trip here, because I was making myself miserable pursuing happiness. I had chased the American Dream until I had overtaken it, run it over and left it in the dust.

The rhythm of the wind and the waves echoes my heartbeat and reminds me that life, success, happiness and answered prayers have a rhythm all of their own. I have to listen to myself to hear them. If I’m in this rhythmic flow, letting the waves carry me, I realize all of these things are the same thing.

But, happiness happens when the only thing we are pursuing is our true self, tuning inward instead of onward. When we pursue “ happiness” or “ success” in and of themselves, we lose our only true compass: the conviction of our own hearts.

The hardest and most worthwhile thing any of us will ever do is to be ourselves, no matter the pressure to be someone else. It’s starts with the courage to meet our own eyes in the mirror each day, and say, “ I’m here for you and I won’t let you down.”

 

.

 

Don’t give in to your fears, if you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.

Author of “The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho

sandals

 

 

 

The key to my successes and the reason for my failures was agility or the lack thereof. I had to learn to be limber enough to get out of God’s way.

Get out of my head and my plans: they are interfering with what is already happening on my behalf. Just because I don’t know what is happening, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

 

At this moment, I am reminding myself:

Let happiness happen. Stop looking. Stop chasing. Stop forecasting. It’s happening now in this moment. Let it fall on me like rain. Let it happen. That sounds like success to me.

 

To paraphrase my friend and great songwriter, Chris Taylor,

Now the ears of my ears awake,

Now the eyes of my eyes are open.

Yes! Is the living thing. Yes! is the only living thing.

IMG_2241